Jack Kirby debuted at DC Comics with Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133 and immediately began establishing characters that would lay the foundation for his newly conceived Fourth World epic. The chief antagonist would be the Darkseid villain who made his debut in Jimmy Olsen #134 (November 1970) with subsequent appearances in issues #135 and #136. The character was originally designed to be the chief antagonist of the titles Forever People, Mister Miracle and New Gods, but after the cancellation of these titles, the characters along with Darkseid were incorporated back into the DC universe.

The son of King Yuga Khan and Queen Heggra, Prince Uxas, second in line to the throne of Apokolips, plotted to seize power over the planet. When his brother, Drax, attempted to claim the fabled Omega Force, Uxas murdered him, and he took the power for himself which as a result transfored him into a rock-like creature, and taking a new name: Darkseid.[2][5] At some point in time, he fell in love with an Apokoliptian scientist and sorceress named Suli, with whom he had a son, Kalibak; however, Suli was poisoned by Desaad on Heggra's behalf, who believed that Suli was corrupting her son. Following Suli's death, Darkseid's heart grew even colder, and he ordered Desaad to poison Heggra, and as soon as he did, Darkseid finally became the supreme monarch of Apokolips. Darkseid had briefly been forced by his mother to marry Tigra, with whom he also had a son. After murdering his mother, Darkseid ordered Tigra to eliminate their son, Orion, who was switched with the Highfather's son, Scott Free, so as to keep peace.[6]

The destructive war with the rival planet, New Genesis, was stopped only with a diplomatic exchange of the sons of Highfather and Darkseid. Darkseid's second born son was surrendered to Highfather, while Darkseid received Scott Free, who later became the master escape artist Mister Miracle. This eventually turned out to be a setback for Darkseid, with his biological son growing up to value and defend the ideals of New Genesis in opposition to his father. The prophecy foretold that Darkseid would meet his final defeat at the hands of his son in a cataclysmic battle in the fiery Armageddon of Apokolips.[2]

Seeing other gods as a threat, Darkseid invaded the island of Themyscira in order to discover the secret location of the Olympian gods, planning to overthrow the Olympians and steal their power. Refusing to aid Darkseid in his mad quest, the Amazons battled his parademon troops, causing half of the Amazon population's death.[7]Wonder Woman was able to gain her revenge against Darkseid for killing so many of her sisters by placing a portion of her own soul into Darkseid. This supposedly weakened the god's power as he lost a portion of his dark edge.[8]

Darkseid's goal was to eliminate all free will from the universe and reshape it into his own image. To this end, he sought to unravel the mysterious Anti-Life Equation, which gives its user complete control over the thoughts and emotions of all living beings in the universe. Darkseid had tried on several other occasions to achieve dominance of the universe through other methods, most notably through his minion Glorious Godfrey, who could control people's minds with his voice. He had a special interest in Earth, as he believed humans possess collectively within their minds most, if not all, fragments of the Anti-Life Equation. Darkseid intended to probe the minds of every human in order to piece together the Equation. This has caused him to clash with many superheroes of the DC Universe, notably, Superman. Darkseid worked behind the scenes, using superpowered minions in his schemes to overthrow Earth, including working through Intergang, a crime syndicate which employs Apokoliptian technology and later morphed into a religious cult that worships Darkseid as the god of Evil.

One thousand years in the future, Darkseid has been absent for centuries and is almost completely forgotten. He returns and comes into conflict with that era's champions, the Legion of Super-Heroes. After using both scientific and magical methods to enhance his power, Darkseid transposes the planets Apokolips and Daxam—which places Daxam under a yellow sun and gives each of its inhabitants Kryptonian-like superpowers equal to those of Superman. Placing the Daxamites under his mental thrall, he uses them in a massive attempt to conquer the known universe. However, he is eventually defeated by the Legion and many of its allies.[9][10]

In Grant Morrison's 2005 Mister Miracle limited series, it was revealed that Darkseid had finally discovered the Anti-Life Equation, which he then used to destroy the Fourth World altogether. The New Gods fled to Earth, where they hid. Highfather and his followers were now a group of homeless people. Metron used a wheelchair, the Black Racer was an old white man in a wheelchair, Desaad was an evil psychiatrist, Granny Goodness was a pimp (or "madam") for the Female Furies, and Darkseid himself was now an evil gang leader who is referred to only as "Boss Dark Side". It is revealed that Darkseid actually gave the SheedaNorth America in return for Aurakles, Earth's first superhero.[11] This was, in turn, purely in order for Darkseid to get Shilo Norman, whom he considers the "Avatar of Freedom", in his clutches so that he could eventually destroy the New Gods.

As prophesied, Orion returns to Earth via Boom Tube for his final battle with Darkseid. During the massive fight, Orion ultimately kills him by ripping his heart out, which created a firepit of Apokolips from Darkseid's chest cavity (in reference to the prophecy of their final battle). As Darkseid dies, a battered, wounded Orion walks away from the battlefield having "won" the battle against his father once and for all. However, Darkseid's life essence endured even the death of his body and fell back in time, where he was reborn as "Boss Dark Side", aided by his resurrected minions and the supervillain Libra.

Now, once again bound to the form of a human, "Boss Dark Side" began to appear in a number of titles in the run up to Final Crisis. In Flash (vol. 2) #240, he led an army of fanatics, their will broken by the "spoken form" of the Anti-Life Equation, to kidnap the Tornado Twins. In Birds of Prey #118, he runs his Dark Side Club where superhumans fight to the death, brainwashed by drugs produced by Bernadeth. In Teen Titans #59, it was revealed that he had employed the Terror Titans to capture the Teen Titans and use them in his club fights.

In Final Crisis, Darkseid has begun to take over Earth and corrupt the Multiverse with the aid of his herald Libra, a reborn supervillain and antichrist-like figure who soon converts much of the Secret Society of Super Villains to his cause with the aid of the Crime Bible and the Holy Lance. Darkseid is also joined by the souls of his fellow evil New Gods, who, like Darkseid, now possess either modified human bodies or the bodies of other superpowered beings, such as Mary Marvel.

Darkseid also arranges for detective Dan Turpin to be lured into the Dark Side Club, where Turpin is turned into Darkseid's "final host", as his Boss Dark Side body has begun to mummify due to Darkseid's foul astral presence. With his legion of followers and allies aiding him as he undergoes his latest "rebirth", Darkseid successfully conquers the Earth with the unleashing of the Anti-Life Equation onto mankind. However, the rebirthing process is still far from complete as Dan Turpin's mind and soul, while corrupted by Darkseid's essence, still remains in firm control over his body. However, at the same moment Shilo Norman, the "Embodiment of Freedom" is shot by S.H.A.D.E. operatives, thus signaling the "Victory of Evil". Darkseid wins control over Turpin's body, now twisted in a close copy of his Apokoliptan former appearance, and wearing an updated version of his battle armor. Darkseid then gains the fullest of his power, his "fall" having the effect of compressing and crumpling space-time around Earth.

After escaping from captivity, Batman shoots Darkseid with the same radion bullet that killed Orion, while Darkseid simultaneously hits Batman with the Omega Sanction, sending back in time and then "infecting" Batman with Omega energy that will cause him to jump forward in time, with disastrous results when he reaches the present. Darkseid is mortally wounded, but not before his Omega Sanction teleports Batman into prehistoric times. Remains believed to be Batman's (later revealed to be the last of the many Batman clones that Darkseid created) are found by Superman, who confronts Darkseid. As Darkseid mocks his old enemy for failing to defend Earth, it emerges that in Darkseid's fall through the multiverse, he created a doomsday singularity that now threatens all of existence. When Superman attempts to physically assault him, Darkseid reveals that he now exists inside the bodies of all those who fell to the power of the Anti-Life Equation and that killing Darkseid will kill humanity. Darkseid then reloads the gun that was used to shoot him, to kill Orion by way of firing the bullet backwards in time (a move Superman deems to be suicide due to the paradoxical nature of his actions: the bullet used to kill Orion is ultimately fired at him by Batman and is now poisoning him to death).

Before Darkseid can use the Omega Effect to kill Superman, Barry Allen and Wally West lead the Black Racer to Darkseid and contact with him frees Turpin from Darkseid's control. Wonder Woman (having been freed from possession by one of Darkseid's minions) then uses her lasso of truth to bind Darkseid's spirit form, effectively freeing humanity from the Anti-Life Equation and being controlled by Darkseid. In his final effort, Darkseid's disembodied essence appears and tries to seize the Miracle Machine Superman has created; however, Superman uses counter-vibrations to destroy him. Furthermore, the last piece of Darkseid's plan fails when Batman, thanks to the actions of the new Batman (Dick Grayson), Red Robin (Tim Drake), Robin (Damian Wayne) and the Justice League, is able to return safely to the present, consuming the Omega Energy in his body without damaging the time-stream further, thus becoming the second individual, along with Mister Miracle, to escape the Omega Sanction.

In Justice League #1, Darkseid's name is invoked by a Parademon.[13] He is later mentioned again in Justice League #2,[14] and in Justice League #3 Darkseid makes his first appearance in the series, seen in a vision by Victor Stone after he is injured by an exploding Mother Box.[15] In the final pages of Justice League #4, Darkseid himself appears.[16] In Justice League #5, the League confronts him but they are overpowered by him, when he severely hurts Superman with his Omega Beams and breaks Green Lantern's arm.[17] Finally, in Justice League #6, Darkseid is driven out when Cyborg activates the invaders' Mother Boxes and Superman forces him through a Boom Tube. The incidents that occur in these issues make Darkseid the very first foe the newly formed League faces as a team. The issue also reveals Desaad and Steppenwolf, referring to Darkseid's daughter and their ceaseless search for her across countless worlds.[18] Darkseid's daughter escapes containment in Justice League of America's Vibe #7 after the dampeners on her cage are temporarily disabled.[19]

In DC's The New 52 continuity, there is only one set of New Gods across the 52 Multiverse. So as Darkseid invades Prime Earth in Justice League, he sends his lieutenant Steppenwolf to do the same, with greater success, on Earth 2, resulting in the deaths of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, and stranding Helena Wayne and Kara Zor-L on Prime Earth. Five years later, Darkseid once again invades Earth 2, which never fully recovered from his armies' earlier assault, and it is revealed that he and Highfather of New Genesis struck a deal allowing him the unchallenged right to invade Earth 2.

In Darkseid #1, his background story was revealed. Formerly a farmer named Uxas, he hated the gods of his world. So he traveled up to their mountain while they slept and tricked them all into fighting each other, and as they were all weakened from the war, he killed them one by one with his scythe (similar to Kronos of Greek Mythology) and stole their power, before destroying his world and creating Apokolips.

Darkseid is among the most powerful of the New Gods. His main power, the Omega Beams is a form of energy that he fires from his eyes and hands as either a concussive force or a disintegrating energy which is capable of erasing living objects and organisms from existence. The Omega Beams also resurrect fallen beings, depending on the dark lord's will (some super-beings such as Superman and Doomsday have proven to be resistant to it, though in the case of Superman with a great deal of pain). These beams stem from a cosmic energy source called the "Omega Effect". Darkseid has pinpoint control and his unerring aim allows the beam to travel in straight lines, bend, or curve around corners and can pass through matter and even energy. He can also teleport himself or others through time and space.[20] His Omega Sanction traps the organism in a series of alternate realities, each one worse than the previous. During the Final Crisis, Darkseid used his Omega Beams to grant power to Mary Marvel, with her powers then being based on Anti-Life rather than magic.

Darkseid is a being whose Super-Strength and Invulnerability can only be challenged by the likes of Superman, Doomsday, and Orion.[21][22] He can also move with great speed, as he has been able to catch Superman off guard,[23] and he is known to be able to react in nanoseconds.[24] He also can increase his physical size.[25] Darkseid also has additional powers of telepathy and telekinesis, and he can create psionic avatars. As Darkseid is a god he is also immortal, having lived for several hundred thousand years.[26]

Despite his extraordinary physical powers, Darkseid rarely engages himself personally in confrontations, as he prefers to use his superhuman intellect to manipulate or control others to his ends.[26] Darkseid has displayed his godly abilities by sensing the death of his son Orion[21] and fluctuations of the energy of the "godwave".[24] Darkseid also commands all of the military and technological resources of Apokolips.

In the television series Smallville, he can bring forth and manipulate the darkness within a person's heart, allowing him to turn any that are not "pure" to the path of evil.[28] He has also displayed the ability to take possession of other living beings (that have darkness in their hearts) as well as shape-shifting.[28]

In Superman: The Animated Series (1996), Darkseid is resentful of his second born son Kalibak and only somewhat jokingly acknowledges that Orion is his true son (mainly trying to egg on Orion to be like him). After his first invasion of Earth in the two-part episode "Apokolips...Now!", Darkseid promises that Apokolips will not attack again, as part of a truce with the planet New Genesis. To bypass his promise, Darkseid develops various schemes to destroy Earth indirectly such as through manipulation of Intergang. In the concluding two-part finale "Legacy", Darkseid attempts one final invasion of Earth which involves brainwashing Superman. He is stopped by Superman and pursued to Apokolips where he is defeated. To Superman's shock, Darkseid's slaves willingly come to his aid after the battle by carrying his broken body away to recover. As he leaves, Darkseid explains to Superman that "I am many things, Kal-El, but here, I am God."

A few years later on the Justice League animated series (2001), Darkseid seeks the Justice League's help in order to defeat common enemy Brainiac coming to Apokolips to download all knowledge of the planet then destroy. Superman opposes helping Darkseid but the rest of the League agrees in order to take down Brainiac once and for all. But after defeating Brainiac's forces and following him back to his base, Darkseid was discovered to have been playing the League all along. In return for sparing Apokolips, Darkseid delivered Superman to Brainiac, allowing revenge against the Kryptonian, and no opposition for the acquisition of Earth's information then destruction. Darkseid then betrayed Brainiac by hacking his circuitry in order to bring Brainiac's machinery under his control while using Superman as a conduit to destroy the Universe all at once then rebuild in his own image. Superman is freed with Batman's help while Orion battles Darkseid. After Darkseid defeats his son, his exit blocked by Superman intent to finish Darkseid once and for all and the two engage in fierce combat. But just as Darkseid is near defeat, the base begins to collapse and Batman forcibly brings Superman and Orion to safety via boom tube. Buried under rubble, Darkseid looks on and nonchalantly says 'Loser' then is killed in the explosion of the base.

Some time afterwards in Justice League Unlimited (2004), Darkseid's absence caused Apokolips to descend into warfare as his generals, including Kalibak, Granny Goodness and Virman Vundabar, battle for control of his empty throne. When the Legion of Doom traveled into deep space to the location where Brainiac's base once was, Lex Luthor sacrifices both the ship's power and Tala to fuel a device that will mystically draw Brainiac's essence from the asteroid base debris. However, Tala channels a different sort of energy through the machine as a final act of revenge against Luthor before the machine kills her. Darkseid was resurrected instead with Brainiac's powers. Thanking the group of villains by offering a quick and painless death, he destroys their base with his Omega beams (although Luthor and his band of villains survive thanks to Sinestro and Star Sapphire then steal a mother-box to return to Earth). Darkseid returns to Apokolips and reunifies his warring minions to claim revenge against Superman and launches an assault on Earth in which the Justice League and the Legion work together to stop the Parademon's invasion. Superman, Batman and Lex battle against Darkseid. Most notably, Batman becomes the first ever being to avoid Darkseid's Omega beam. On the final match, Superman was almost defeated by Darkseid's Agony Matrix and a kryptonite knife, Lex went to the Source Wall aided by Metron and returned to offer the Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid's most wanted possession. Then Darkseid stopped the battle and touched Lex's hand which held the equation then both disappeared although Superman, Batman and the other founding League members doubt they have seen the last of them.

Darkseid appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley.[29] In the episode "Darkseid Descending!", Darkseid leads the Apocalypse forces in an invasion of Earth, only to be challenged by Batman and his new Justice League. After soundly defeating the League, Darkseid is goaded into a fist fight with Batman after the hero implies that he is simply a coward who hides behind his god-like abilities. Though Darkseid subsequently wins this fight, he and his army are sent back to Apocalypse by the Question having infiltrated Darkseid's cadre of minions and reversed the Boom Tubes that had brought them to Earth. Darkseid makes a cameo in the episode "Powerless!" where he appears in a training simulator to help Captain Atom fight crime after his powers were taken away by Major Force. However, the Darkseid simulation easily defeats Captain Atom.

Darkseid is alluded to in the Young Justice cartoon series. In the episode "Disordered", he is never explicitly named but Beautiful Dreamer of the Forever People refers to him as Desaad's master while Desaad simply calls him as 'Unspeakable'. At the end of the series finale "Endgame", Vandal Savage, Desaad and G. Gordon Godfrey meet with Darkseid on Apokolips. Savage then shakes hands while quoting 'business as usual'.

Darkseid is the main antagonist for the tenth and final season of Smallville.[30] Producers of the series mentioned that the character will not be fully revealed at the beginning and will be a force that is going to be felt throughout the season and eventually materialize as the episodes progress. In the series version, he mostly appears as a non-corporeal being.[31] In the season premiere "Lazarus", both Jor-El and the spirit of Jonathan Kent warned Clark Kent of a Dark Force that is coming to Earth to corrupt it. It heard of Clark's powers and the doubts and fears in his heart and wants to turn him into a weapon. The Darkness gathers on a rooftop in Metropolis' crow's nest and forms into the shape of a rock-like creature, but then turns into a black cloud of smoke needing a vessel and wanting prophets or minions to help corrupt the whole Earth. In the episode "Supergirl", Kara tells Clark that the Darkness came to Earth after a rip in the universe was created. Clark concludes that when he opened a portal (used to send the Kandorians to a world that would become New Krypton), it must have allowed the Darkness to come to Earth. Darkseid went on to possess the radio shock jockey Gordon Godfrey. Using Godfrey as his Vessel, Darkseid created a backlash against the superheroes in Metropolis and went on to spread a message of mistrust and doubt among the people of the city but left Godfrey's body after a confrontation with Clark and Kara.

In the episode "Abandoned", Darkseid's minions or prophets Granny Goodness, Gordon Godfrey and club owner Desaad discuss their plans for paving the way for the coming of their Dark Lord: Godfrey breaks people's spirits, Desaad binds people's bodies, and Granny wipes people's minds. The episode "Patriot" revealed that General Slade Wilson is one of the people whom Darkseid is influencing as he bears the Omega Brand on his skull. In the episode "Masquerade", it is shown that Darkseid is bringing more people (bearing the Omega Symbol) under his control, attracting the attention of the FBI who are also marked with the Omega Brand. The Omega Mark is shown that the influence gains control by exploiting a person's weakness, thematically one of the Seven Deadly Sins used by one of Darkseid's prophets called Desaad. Desaad fails to corrupt Chloe Sullivan but succeeds in corrupting Oliver Queen. At the end of the episode "Scion", Darkseid is revealed taking shape from a mass of black smoke before Lionel Luthor. Clark and Oliver discover in the episode "Dominion" that Darkseid has indeed been to other worlds and that Zod made a deal with Darkseid to get rid of Clark in exchange for Zod to rule over the Phantom Zone. Darkseid manipulates Oliver into finding the Bow of Orion - the weapon that his son Orion used to defeat his demonic father the previous time Darkseid attempted to conquer Earth. After Oliver finds the Bow of Orion in the episode "Prophecy", Granny Goodness subsequently destroyed the bow so that it cannot be used against her master again and brings Oliver completely under Darkseid's control and is later seen digging a Gold Kryptonite rock so he can permanently remove Clark's powers according to his master's will.

During the two part series finale, Granny Goodness tells Tess Mercer that Darkseid's planet Apokolips was known in Earth's history by many names such as Hades or Lucifer and was also connected to the Hindu goddess Kali and when the fiery planet comes only Darkseid's followers will survive. During Clark's wedding with Lois Lane, Oliver (still possessed with the Omega Brand) tries to force a Gold Kryptonite wedding ring on but Chloe saved Clark from the ring and Clark removed Oliver's mark of Darkness. After Tess gunned down Lionel, Darkseid appeared before Lionel and offers immortality. But when Lionel went to bring back Lex Luthor instead, Darkseid takes out Lionel's heart to restore Lex. Now possessing Lionel's corpse-like body as a vessel, Darkseid/Lionel confronts Clark after realizing that the Kryptonian is a threat as he saved Oliver from his dark spell, and tries to kill him. However, Clark is now at the pinnacle of his Kryptonian abilities, finally mastering the power of flight after Darkseid threw him into the air while they fought in the Kent barn, Clark regaining control mid-air and flying directly at Darkseid to strike him hard in the chest, defeating him and blasting him out of Lionel's body, seemingly destroying him. Clark then becomes Superman and stops Apokolips from destroying Earth by pushing it into outer space. In the Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show, it is revealed that Darkseid had survived the encounter and restored his physical body.

Darkseid is the main antagonist in the direct-to-videoanimated filmSuperman/Batman: Apocalypse, voiced by actor Andre Braugher.[32] When he learns about Supergirl's presence on Earth, he manages to control her mind and attempts to make her the new captain of his furies after Big Barda's defection. He had hopes of using her to kill Superman once and for all, but fails and later attacks both Kryptonians at the Kent Farm. In the end, he is pummeled by Superman and sent by Supergirl, using a boom tube, to another part of space, where he ends up frozen.

Darkseid is the main antagonist in the animated film Justice League: War, voiced by Steven Blum. Using his army of Parademons, he attempts to terraform Earth, until he is defeated by the combined efforts of the newly formed Justice League.

The 1984 Kenner "Super Powers Collection" toyline featured the first Darkseid action figure. The toy company felt that he and his minions provided the ideal larger than life collection of villains that could believably challenge the superhero characters.[33]

A version of Darkseid was featured in the Total Justice toy line by Kenner/Hasbro Toys.

DC Animated versions of the character were featured in the Superman, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited toy lines.

DC Direct also created Darkseid action figures and toys. He was included as a carded figure in the New Gods line, as well as the Batman/Superman series, in a boxed two pack set with Orion, and most recently a boxed figure based on his New 52 incarnation. He's also a stylized Blammoids art toy figure.

Mattel released Darkseid as part of the fourth series in their Retro Action line, a homage to the vintage Mego action figures of the seventies which utilized 8" bodies with cloth outfits.

Funko has released Darkseid as part of the Pop! line of Vinyl figures.

In Wave 12 of the Mattel DC Universe Classics line, Darkseid is the assortments "Collect and Connect" character. Pieces of the figure were included with Eclipso, Copperhead, Spectre, Iron, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Mary Batson. The Spectre includes an optional second hand wearing a "killing glove".

Lego will release a set under the DC Super Heroes theme in 2015 named "Darkseid Invasion", containing 545 pieces, and including Darkseid as a large Lego figure, and also including Green Arrow, Superman, Cyborg, and Hawkman.

^The Great Darkness Saga was removed from mainstream DC continuity in 1994, following the events of the Zero Hour limited series. However, the tale has been restored to continuity in recent years. In Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 6, #4 (October 2010), explicit reference is made to the events of "The Great Darkness Saga", mentioning (among other things) Darkseid's victory over Mordru on the planet Avalon. Similarly in Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 7, #3 (January 2012), a Daxamite official remarked that the people of his world "still mourn how Darkseid used us for violence".